Biodiesel announcement expected for Wheatland County, chosen over originally proposed Cypress County

By Medicine Hat News on December 11, 2024.

@MedicineHatNews

More may be known today about a plan to boost biodiesel production at a refinery in Wheatland County after a company chose it over developing a new facility near Dunmore.

Cielo Waste Solutions said in June it would change corporate priorities from developing its own conversion process to turn railway ties into a fuel source for blending with traditional diesel fuel. As part of the switch, it planned to acquire and expand an operating facility near Carseland, Alta., owned by Rocky Mountain Clean Fuels.

That company, which also has been previously awarded access to a $24-million rural petrochemical diversification grant, is the subject of an announcement planned for today with Energy Minister Brian Jean in Calgary regarding the program.

Cielo proposed in 2018 that it could build a national network of “renewable diesel” production facilities to process agricultural waste byproduct, wood, or even municipal waste. Land contracted near the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 41 N., (east of Dunmore) was designated as the project site.

A local investors group was offered a $2-million payment to cancel a development agreement.

On Nov. 29, the company also stated it planned to divest land and a prototype facility in Aldersyde, Alta., near High River, to focus on closing the transaction to acquire Rocky Mountain fuels.

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